(a)

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class B misdemeanorup to 6 monthsup to $500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 70-4-110

  • Agency: means the wildlife resources agency. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Fishing: means any effort made to take, kill, injure, capture, or catch any fish and every act of assistance in any effort. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Highway: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Hunting: means chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after or on the trail of, searching for, trapping, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife, whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, killed, taken, or wounded and every act of assistance to any other person, but "hunting" does not include stalking, attracting, searching for, or lying in wait for, wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching wildlife or taking pictures of wildlife. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Motor vehicle: means any self-propelled vehicle, and any vehicle propelled or drawn by a self-propelled vehicle, wherever operated, but does not include any vessel. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Person: means an individual, association, partnership, or corporation. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Possession: means both actual and constructive possession, and any control of the object or objects referred to. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Trapping: means taking, killing, and capturing wildlife by the use of any trap, snare, deadfall, or other device commonly used to capture wildlife, and the shooting or killing of wildlife lawfully trapped, and includes all lesser acts such as placing, setting, or staking such traps, snares, deadfalls, and other devices, whether or not such acts result in taking of wildlife, and every attempt to take and every act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take wildlife with traps, snares, deadfalls, or other devices. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Waters of the state: means any waters within the territorial limits of the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Wildlife: means wild vertebrates, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) It is unlawful for any person, or one (1) or more of a group of persons together, to willfully throw or cast, or cause to be thrown or cast, the rays of a spotlight, headlight, or other artificial light from any motor vehicle or vessel or with the aid of any motor vehicle or vessel, on or from any highway, or in any field, woodland, or forest, or the waters of the state, in an apparent attempt or intent to locate deer by the use of such light, unless such person or persons direct such light onto property owned by such person or one of the persons involved, or such person or group of persons has written permission from the landowner to willfully throw or cast, or cause to be thrown or cast, the rays of a spotlight, headlight, or other artificial light onto the property of the landowner. Such written permission must be in immediate possession at all times and the individual shall display same upon demand of law enforcement.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (a)(1), it is unlawful to willfully throw or cast, or cause to be thrown or cast, the rays of a spotlight, headlight, or other artificial light from any motor vehicle or vessel or with the aid of any motor vehicle or vessel, at any time from or on any public roadway.
(b) The operator of any motor vehicle or vessel from which the rays of an artificial light have been cast as outlined in subsection (a) shall immediately stop such vehicle or vessel upon the direction of any enforcement officer of the wildlife resources agency.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
(d) In the prosecution of second or subsequent offenders, the indictment or presentment must allege the prior conviction for violating any of the provisions of this section, setting forth the time and place of each such prior conviction. The court shall prohibit such convicted person, either first or subsequent offenders, from hunting, fishing or trapping in this state for a period of one (1) year.
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